When a person is standing at the equator, the earth spins at about 1,038 miles per hour (or 1,670 kph). The speed depends where one is located on the planet. The earth’s speed is at its fastest around the equator because that is where the circumference of the planet is greatest, which is 24,902 miles. It takes the earth one day to complete one full rotation. for those standing at the north pole, the speed of the earth’s rotation is almost zero. In the mid-latitudes of the United States and Europe, they spin at about 700 to 900 mph, or 1,125 to 1,450 kph.
Rotational Speed Versus Latitude
We know how long it takes the Earth to rotate around its axis; it takes 23.93 hours. The circumference of the Earth at the equator is 40,075 km (24,901 mi). So take 40,075/23.93 and the rotational speed is 1,675 km/hr or 1,040 mph. We also know that at different locations on Earth the circumference changes, so the rotational speed changes.
Here are the rotational speeds at different latitudes.
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At 80° – 289.9 km/hr (180.1 mph).
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At 70° – 571.1 km/hr (354.8 mph).
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At 60° – 834.9 km/hr (518.7 mph).
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At 50° – 1073.3 km/hr (666.9 mph).
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At 40° – 1279.1 km/hr (794.8 mph).
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At 30° – 1446.1 km/hr (898.5 mph).
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At 20° – 1569.1 km/hr (974.9 mph).
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At 10° – 1644.4 km/hr (1021.7 mph).
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At 0° – 1675 km/hr (1040 mph). (The Equator)
So, around Salt Lake City, or 40 degrees latitude, the earth spins at roughly 795 miles per hour. It spins from west to east. So if you are shooting west, your bullet will arrive a little quicker, and a little slower if shooting east, since if you are shooting west, your target is approaching at 795 mph.
The air density ratio column in Table 3.1-1, which is the ratio of standard air density at altitude to the standard air density at sea level, shows that the air density decreases rapidly as altitude increases. Air density is a direct
Table 3.1-1 Standard Metro Atmospheric Parameters versus AltitudeAltitude | Air Density Ratio | Temperature | Baro Pressure | Speed of Sound | |||||||
(Feet) | (At Altitude / | (Deg F) | (mm Hg) | (in Hg) | Ratio (At Altitude / | ||||||
At Sea Level) | At Sea Level) | ||||||||||
Sea Level | 1.0000 | 59.0 | 750.0 | 29.53 | 1.0000 | ||||||
1000 | 0.9702 | 55.4 | 722.7 | 28.45 | 0.9873 | ||||||
2000 | 0.9414 | 51.9 | 696.3 | 27.41 | 0.9744 | ||||||
3000 | 0.9133 | 48.3 | 670.9 | 26.41 | 0.9614 | ||||||
4000 | 0.8862 | 44.7 | 646.4 | 25.45 | 0.9483 | ||||||
5000 | 0.8598 | 41.2 | 622.7 | 24.52 | 0.9350 | ||||||
6000 | 0.8342 | 37.6 | 599.8 | 23.62 | 0.9216 | ||||||
7000 | 0.8094 | 34.1 | 577.8 | 22.75 | 0.9080 | ||||||
8000 | 0.7853 | 30.5 | 556.6 | 21.91 | 0.8943 | ||||||
9000 | 0.7619 | 26.9 | 536.1 | 21.11 | 0.8805 | ||||||
10000 | 0.7392 | 23.4 | 516.3 | 20.33 | 0.8666 | ||||||
11000 | 0.7172 | 19.8 | 497.3 | 19.58 | 0.8525 | ||||||
12000 | 0.6959 | 16.2 | 478.9 | 18.85 | 0.8383 | ||||||
13000 | 0.6752 | 12.7 | 461.1 | 18.16 | 0.8239 | ||||||
14000 | 0.6551 | 9.1 | 444.0 | 17.48 | 0.8094 | ||||||
15000 | 0.6356 | 5.5 | 427.6 | 16.83 | 0.7948 |
If you are shooting north or south, the earth will have rotated to the left or right quite a distance in 11 seconds. But, I’m not going to spoil it for you. Let’s see if you can figure it out.